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Product Description

Thirty-two year old wife and mother Crystal McVea was a skeptic before her life-changing supernatural experience on December 10, 2009. But when her heart stopped and she lost consciousness for 9 minutes, as nurses and doctors worked frantically to revive her, she remembers awaking in a place she knew was heaven. From that moment on, her doubt melted away and she was filled with the overwhelming knowledge of God's very real love for her. In Waking Up in Heaven, she shares her remarkable journey and the message that God is real. Heaven is real. And God's love for us is greater than we ever imagined.

Publisher's Description

On December 10, 2009, McVea, a thirty-two-year-old mother of four, went to the hospital for a routine procedure. While undergoing treatment, her face suddenly turned a dark shade of blue, then black. Her mother screamed for help, and a nurse tried to revive her…to no avail.

Today, Crystal does not remember what happened in that hospital room during the nine minutes she was unconscious and unable to breathe on her own. She has no memory of the panic and the rushing nurses and the loud cries of “Code Blue.”

She only remembers drifting off…and waking up in heaven.

This unexpected meeting of a self-described sinner and skeptic with her God changed everything. Raised Christian, she had left her faith behind after childhood abuse and the subsequent struggles and suffering of her troubled teens and early adulthood. She longed to believe but felt abandoned, broken, and undeserving.

A moving autobiographical testament to the power of divine love and forgiveness, Waking Up in Heaven shares the message of hope, healing, and compassion McVea brought back from her brush with God.

This brave, honest account of years lost to shame and guilt will inspire those who’ve stumbled along their own spiritual journey, with the uplifting reminder that no one is beyond the reach of grace and redemption, and that, in the words of the author, “God is real. Heaven is real. And God’s love for us is the realest thing of all.”

Author Bio

Crystal McVea is the author of Waking Up in Heaven. With a deep rooted passion for the needy and lost, Crystal speaks around the country at conferences and events bringing a message of hope and redemption. She is a schoolteacher and lives in her home state of Oklahoma along with her husband Virgil, a US Army veteran, and their four children. To learn more, go to CrystalMcVea.com.
Alex Tresniowski is a former human-interest writer at People and the bestselling author of several books, most notably TheVendetta, which was purchased by Universal Studios and used as a basis for the movie Public Enemies. His other titles include An Invisible Thread and Prepared for a Purpose.

I was blown away by Crystal's story. She didn't have an easy life growing up. Her brief experience in heaven compels her to share her testimony with others - those she knows and those she meets in her daily life. I wish I was that open in sharing my faith.

When she says she likes to talk alot, she wasn't kidding. Her book reflects that. I do believe her story, but too much ya-badda-ya-badda-ya-badda. While It did take courage to talk about the things in her past, the book amounted to her complete autobiography. I was hoping for more details about heaven and what it's like, not her life story.

This book shares a different viewpoint of heaven and meeting God than others I have previously read. Crystal McVea is very open and honest about all aspects of her life, including the parts that she is not proud of. It shows us that we are all loved by The Lord, no matter who we are or what we've done.

Meeting God in heaven, how can you not want to read about that? The fact that the story tells of her brokeness and human failures just makes God's love resonate all the more. Anyone can identify with her life and the tragedies and trials. Every one can glean a lot about who God is by how her life changes after meeting him in person. I highly recommend this book both to people who know God and to those who aren't sure he is there!